Badly Drawn Boy

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sat 9 Sep

ROCK

‘Glasgow, you are the best audience we have had in years!’ So shouts Damon Gough, his bass player nodding in acquiescence. All in all, it’s been a successful gig for Badly Drawn Boy. Such is the popularity of the band that King Tut’s could have sold out at least thrice over, but a compact show has been chosen to allow the mercurial singer-songwriter to showcase material from forthcoming album Born in the UK.

As with just about all tentative live steps into the realm of the new, success and failure are largely contingent on audience patience or goodwill. Lucky, then, that this crowd has both in spades, absorbing newies like ‘Promises’ and ‘Nothing’s Going to Change Your Mind’ with respect. However, when Gough jokes: ‘Don’t worry, there’s only a few more new ones to get through,’ it heralds a jaunt through some of the most beguiling and well-crafted guitar music of the last decade.